Holy Gmoly- Happy Birthday Anny

Bonjourno. I keep mixing up Italian and French and it is incredibly embarassing. I was getting very very good at French and then we had to switch and it mixed me up really good. Luckily Italian is similar to French... kind of. Way more people seem to speak English here then they did in Paris. Andrea says its because the people in Paris are snooty and I believe her.We arrived in Florence a few hours ago and already I think it may be one of my favorite places that we have been yet! First there is the deal with our hotel, Hotel Joli. It is run by a n Italian family who comunicate with eachother by yelling through the vast hallways... even if they are on opposite sides of the hotel. We can hear them yelling in Italian when we are in our hotel room and it is kind of funny. The hotel is GORGEOUS and probably one of my favorite hotels so far. Our room is massive and has 15 foot ceilings, huge white antique mirrors, a lime green sofa, and a table with three chairs. I am very excited about the table with three chairs because at every other hotel we have been to, there has only been 2 or maybe none at all... so now we can all eat dinner together, without having to rotate who gets to sit on the floor each night. We also have a huge bathroom with a bathtub in our room. I couldn't be more excited. The room has huge windows with wooden shutters that open up onto someones unruley garden, but it's extremely beautiful. Our hotel is on the top floor of a building and we have been taking the lift (yes, the old fashioned, manual open and close lifts from the movies) to get ourselves from the front door to the top floor. There is only room for the three of us in the lift unless we are wearing our backpacks... then there is only room for one. It is neat to use because i have never been in one like that before. There is a a buffet breakfast included here at our hotel and the dining room looks adorable...I am actually excited for breakfast. And i know for a fact that breakfast couldn't be any worse then the one we had at our hotel in Venice (EW). Everything here is so bright and the ceilings are so high and I think it is so funny that the staff just yell at eachother from different areas in the hotel and their voices echo all aroung. I love this. It is exactly my style (the hotel). I almost feel like i could spend a longer period of time here before we head off to Greece. After oogling over how amazing our hotel was, we decided to go outside and wander around. We discovered an outdoor market that sells leather bags and tacky souvinears which led us into a huge indoor market. The indoor market is amazing and sells breads, meats, cheeses, fruits and veggies. It is very similar to Lonsdale Quay at home!!! I LOVE IT IN THERE! they actually have fresh bread that looks like it wouldn't be completely hopeless like the bread in Venice was. We have decided to go there every night and get our dinner from there. I think i bought enough fruit for myself to last my family for a week.
I am glad to be out of Venice. It was neat but I don't think i would have wanted to stay there longer... i felt like you could wander around for ages and still feel like you hadn't gone anywhere. Everything kind of looked the same... it was beautiful but two days there was enough. I'm not big on the towns that are only still thriving because of tourists.
Last night Nicole and I snuck out and went and bought Andrea a huge thing of Gelato for her birthday. Although her birthday is actually today, I thought it would be a nice early birthday gift. She loved it and said it was some of the best gelato she has ever had. Emilie, the coconut gelato here would knock your socks off. It is beyond anything you have every had at home. And ben, nicole bought herslef this dark chocolate gelato that actually tasted like a frikken brownie. it was so rich. I don't even like gelato very much and i will admit that the gelato here is the best out of anywhere ever! Tonight we are going out for a late dinner. I am buying Anny dinner at this nice restraunt. She also requested champaigne and tiramisu for dessert. The restraunt is right by our hotel and everything on the menu looks pretty cheap but very delicious. I think we're all going to get pasta for dinner and I cannot wait.
The train ride today was uneventful, finally. No fines, no police men, no night trains, and no extra costs. Thank goodness. I think we are thinking of spending a night in Rome after this to break up the trip to Greece. We are staying in a monistary I think... Or a place run by monks that Aunty Lenore suggested. It sounds weird and adventurous. I'm enjoying the adventures and trying new everything foods that i don't normally try. I feel like i'm coming out of my shell a little bit at a time and I am enjoying every second of it.

I will write again soon, like i said, there is a computer with free internet in our hotel! Hope all is well at home!!

J